Perla ran as fast as his stubby legs could carry him. He had been separated from Tu in the crowd, but he saw that Lucy was not very far away. Still, the shadow monsters continued their chase. They exited the main area of the cave, and entered a maze of catacombs. seeing their chance, the toys rushed in, hoping to find an escape rout from the fiends. Those that found themselves at dead ends received a gruesome fate via the hungry monsters behind them.
Perla went this way and that, feelings of claustrophobia setting in. At the end of the maze, Paula saw a good portion of the toys. Included among them: Tu, Rutherford, Lucy, Mattindell, and all of the tin soldiers. Tragically, of the sixty toys that entered the maze, about half of them did not come out alive. Spirits down, the remaining group hurried away.
"What were those beings?" asked Perla.
"Shadows, that was clear." shuddered Rutherford "but they seemed to be living shadows"
"Mattindell, I've been wondering" started Tu. "Why didn't you try to attack the shadows with your sword? I've never known you to flee easily, and yet you seemed to have run away without any hesitation."
At this, Mattindell stopped walking. He slowly turned around, a snarl on his face. "What are you trying to say, old man? That I'm a coward now?"
"It was a simple question. I advice that you answer it"
Tu too stopped walking. A confrontation seemed to be heating up, "But at what?" Perla wondered. At first glance, it just seemed like Tu and Mattindell were just trying to relieve stress. Tu questioning Mattindell's courage, and Mattindell questioning Tu's leadership. But it seemed to be much more, like a battle was being fought on an imaginary plane that Perla could not comprehend.
To be continued...
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